Reason to Believe
by An Idiotic Idiot
Summary: She never believed in true love. She just never had a reason to. Happy Late Valentine's Day!


Title: Reason to Believe

Summary: She never believed in true love. She just never had a reason to.

Inspiration: Valentine's Day!

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Don't own PJO, the characters, the Disney princesses, or anything here that you see and recognize. I don't own PB&J either. Both the peanut butter and jelly, and the term 'Popular Bitches and Jocks' that's all my friend Poppy.

Author's Note: Happy Late Valentine's Day! Jasper, of course. I honestly don't care about Valentine's Day, but whatever. I came up with this idea yesterday in 3rd period, which happened to be French, but didn't get to finish it. Another thing this takes place before ToA.

oOo

 **Age 5:**

"Daddy, what's a valentine?"

Oh great, how was he going to explain this?

"Sweetie, a valentine is someone you love very much. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. It's just Miss Christine said that something called Valentine's Days coming, and I heard the older kids say will you be my valentine and stuff. It's just a weird word."

"Ok…"

"Daddy, will I eva have a valentine?"

Hopefully not anytime soon… Oh god, she was growing up fast…

"Of course, you will, honey. You just haven't found the right one."

"Oh. Okay. Daddy, will you be my valentine?"

"Of course, sweetie."

Age 7:

Now she was old enough to understand what love really is.

That was also when Piper realized something.

If a baby was born when a girl and a boy loved each other very much (and also because of beer, parties, mistakes, and getting drunk, but Piper didn't, or shouldn't know that yet.) Piper had a daddy, but what about mommy? Piper never had a mommy. So, did daddy pop Piper out? But how did that even work?

"Daddy, Ms. Johnson said that a baby is born when mommy and daddy love each other very much. I don't see my mommy. So, did Daddy pop me out?"

Tristan, wondering why the school would teach second graders (SECOND GRADERS! They deserved to have their innocence protected!) about this kind of stuff, replied with, "Daddy did not pop you out. Mommy did that."

"But, _Daddy!_ Who's my mommy? Why didn't she here with us?"

 _Sigh_. He knew that this was coming one day.

"Honey, you mother was a… She was a…" Why is this still a touchy subject? It's been 7 years, for god's sake… "Your mother was a beautiful woman. She was kind, selfless, and a hopeless romantic. She was amazing… I loved your mother very much, and she loved me very much. She left us when you were just a baby, Pipes."

"Why did she leave daddy?"

"I dunno, love. But we don't need mommy, do we, Pipes?"

"No, we don't!"

His baby girl really was growing… And she was growing fast.

"Daddy, can you be my valentine?" she asked, with a missing-tooth smile.

 **Age 10:**

Love sucked. That's for sure. Piper was smart, not smart, Ivy League, smart, but somehow smart when it comes to love at the age of 10. It's stupid really, love. From seeing her friends' experiences (And also, maybe, just some TV shows?) You meet a boy, who's most likely cute, and smart, and blah blah blah, you feel like you're in love. Boom. It's either, A. He cheats on you, B. You guys fight. C. He's playing you, or D. It was a joke, a dare, _something_. You cry, you sob, you're down, you're depressed. You go home, watch Netflix while inhaling a whole carton of mint chocolate ice cream. Give it ten seconds, ten hours, ten days, ten weeks, ten months, ten years, or whatever, and you'll be fine. Repeat.

Piper's heard stories about "the one", your supposed soulmate, the one you'll be with forever and all. That's bullshit. Look at her parents. Her mother left her father with Piper. Her mother was the reason why her father had that sadness in his eyes, the reason why he would never look at another woman the same way they looked at him. Her mother broke the ever so great actor, Tristan Mclean. If soulmates were real, if her mother really did love her father, if she didn't leave them, maybe Piper might have been happy.

True Love? Even more bull. You can say that it's true love about anyone. Anyone you meet, anyone you date. Piper didn't believe in true love, she never had a reason to, but if it was true, she wouldn't throw the word 'love' around easily. Look at Sleeping Beauty. "A true love's kiss will break the spell." Aurora never met the fucking prince. Sure, they were promised to each other and stuff, but they just had one freaking encounter, and boom. True love. They sang with each other and blah blah blah. You don't fall in love with someone in a snap of a finger. Falling in love takes time.

Love at first sight? That's the stupidest thing ever imagined. Take Snow White for example. It supported love at first. It also supported the fact that women should do chores, act humble, clean everything, and the fact that females must be saved by males. (Only ten and already a feminist) Again, you can't fall in love with someone in a second. It takes time. Besides, if it's 'love at first sight', you're basically loving someone for their looks. It's at first _sight_. Looks can be deceiving. One might look like an angel, but could be the devil. If anything, Prince Charming loved Snow White because she was beautiful and because he wanted to get into her pants, not because she was nice, kind, or the fact that she's an great example of a 18th century housewife.

See? Definitely smart for a 10 year old.

 **Age 12:**

She had her first boyfriend, some idiot named Alex Beckman. He was cute, a bit geeky, in her biology class, but one of the popular kids, or PB&J, as she liked to call them (Popular Bitches and Jocks). That should have been the first signs that it wasn't going to work.

She was right.

It was a dare, seeing one of the most popular kids in school could charm one of the most beautiful girls in school. They didn't know that Piper was a badass. After kicking him where the sun doesn't shine when he said that he already had a girlfriend and that the date was just a fucking dare, Piper started to downgrade her beauty. She wasn't showing it off much before but she definitely wasn't showing it off now. She started cutting her hair with Garfield scissors, because, honestly, who needed perfectly, glossy, straight, even hair? She bought herself baggy, oversized sweatshirts. Dresses and skirt are _so_ overrated. She didn't give a damn about the fact that now the McLeans' are rich and famous. She didn't care about the designers and babysitters that her dad hired to try and replace him. It was stupid really. If anything, beauty's a pain in the butt.

A few months later, Derek Jurak, another PB&J, asked her to go to the Valentine's Day dance.

She declined.

Her friends were all "Why would you do that Piper?" and "He's so _hot_ … and _dreamy_ …"

Piper wanted to gag.

Derek pleaded and pleaded, and kept on asking and asking.

Eventually, Piper got tired of his bull, and said yes, after making sure that this wasn't a dare, prank, joke, or anything along those lines. Also, making sure that he knew that there would be no hand-holding, kissing, hugging, dancing, or anything romantic. Eww… He agreed. If anything, Piper was going just for show. Like her dad, which set an uneasy feeling in her gut, but shrugged it off, saying that it was better than kissing Derek the Jerk and getting claimed as his girlfriend.

The dance was horrible, to say the least.

And that is exactly when she started to hate Valentine's day.

 **Age 13:**

A bunch of proposals, not wedding proposals of course, but just a bunch of arrogant guys trying to woo her.

This is why love sucks.

Not every kind of love, of course. But most? Yeah. They suck.

Why can't the stupid dickheads at the snobby private schools understand that she, unlike the rest of the female population at the stupid boarding schools her father sent her to, didn't want them?

Why can't her father just understand that Piper doesn't want his money, that she doesn't want expensive clothes, and shoes, and stuff? That maybe the real reason why she was stealing stuff was because she just wanted his attention? Maybe, sending her to boarding schools won't help her change, maybe all she needed for once was just her father's love?

And why did her idiot of a mother leave her sort of idiot of a father?

And where were her friends? The ones who said that they would stick by Piper's side, through the hard and the rough times? Huh? Where were they? Why did they leave when people started bullying her for her race?

And so, Piper spent this Valentine's day alone, with Netflix, Ben and Jerry mint chocolate ice cream, vegetarian pizza with extra cheese, and her pillow and coach. This one was probably the best one yet.

 **Age 14:**

Maybe Valentine's Day isn't that bad?

This year she actually, for once, had a decent boyfriend. Shock-ing! (Pun not intended) He was sweet, a dork (huge one), clumsy, and not trying to get into her pants. He was hot, too, which is an added bonus.

Jason was amazing. He was a bit oblivious, sure, it's not like it required a little bit of flirting and some talking from Leo to get him to realize that Piper liked him or anything, but he is a total sweetheart.

Oh wait. Never mind. This Valentine's Day did suck.

Apparently, every single memory, every single moment, every single kiss, laugh, and comment, wasn't real. Do you know how much that hurts? To love someone so much and realize that every feeling wasn't real?

Also, apparently, she was the daughter of a goddess, _Aphrodite_ , of all of them, and that was the reason why her mother wasn't around. Okay, she understood why her mom didn't tell her dad, why the Tristan Mclean couldn't know, just look at her sort of boyfriend's mother. She went insane knowing that she somehow got the king of gods' attention. Yay! Yippee! Good for you and all, but it's nice to know that her life, not just her relationship, was a lie. Enter a fake cheeky smile here.

Also, Aphrodite leaving Tristan led to her daughter hating everything that she represented. Ha, the blame's on you the ever so wonderful goddess of love.

Did Piper ever mention the fact that her sort of boyfriend also has a sort of, maybe girlfriend? An even better feeling than loving someone who doesn't love you back is loving someone who doesn't love you back because he might have a girlfriend back in wherever he's from. Love is awesome.

Oh, and, as a matter of a fact, she was going have to spend every single day with her sort of boyfriend soon because they are going to be fighting an immortal goddess (Is Gaea a goddess? Or is she a Titaness? What is Gaea? Greek stuff gets confusing sometimes), in a war that was obviously too big for them. Sometimes, okay, that's a lie, almost all the time, Piper wished that she was a normal girl, with a normal father who is not a celebrity, a normal mother who does not like to torture her with makeup and dresses and girly stuff and is not a goddess, with a normal life. The fates are cruel.

 _Sigh._ Maybe, Reyna wasn't Jason's girlfriend? Maybe Jason might like her back? Maybe they might actually win this stupid war?

But the Fates were hardly on Piper's side. The only good things in her life right now is Leo and the fact that Drew isn't in charge of the Barbie cabin anymore.

And, so, Piper's spending this Valentine's Day alone again.

 **Age 15:**

Good news!

Reyna isn't Jason's girlfriend!

Jason loves her back!

Piper and Jason are dating!

They won the war!

Bad news!

Leo, Leo of all people died. Leo's like her brother. Leo always been there for her, through the rough times, standing up for her when no one else did. Even in the fake memories, Leo was always there. She would never get over his death.

That's when she realized that Valentine's Day is just for your boyfriend or girlfriend, your S. O, your soulmate, but for everyone that you love, including your family and friends.

Piper, she once had nothing. She once felt alone, once hated love, once depressed, once just wanted someone to love her for who she was. Now, she had a father who actually paid attention to her, a father who cared, revealed the truth about her mother, one who was more powerful than she originally thought, amazing siblings, example Lacy and Mitchell, not including Drew and her stupid followers, friends who cared, like Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Frank, Will, Nico, and surprisingly, Reyna, she wasn't a bad person, Reyna was just one of those people you want to hate, but just can't, and an awesome boyfriend, who wasn't a jerk.

She had everything she wanted, but she has also lost many.

She will never forget the sacrifices, the promises. Everything will be fine, though.

Love, love is a complicated thing. People overlooked Aphrodite and Venus, including Piper, but now she knows. Love is a powerful thing. It could start a war. It could stop a war. It makes and breaks relationships. It could save your life or it could destroy it. Love is humanity. No one can stop love. Love is life. Without love, there would be no life. You can't choose who you love. Artemis did swear off men, as did the Hunters, but Artemis loves Apollo, does she not? Thalia loves Jason, does she not? Love does not come in one form, it comes in many. Love is powerful. Piper understands. All she needed was a reason to believe.

oOo

Okay this kind of sucks. But that's fine, right? Sorry for mistakes and all, and again flames are always allowed.


End file.
